Paul Cooklin

Paul Cooklin, born in 1971, is a British fine art film photographer whose practice centres on analogue film as his medium. His work spans documentary, architectural, and travel photography, capturing the interplay of geometry, light and shadows. Whether capturing urban energy, architectural form, or remote landscapes, Cooklin creates images that invite viewers into narratives both universal and personal.

MIND

Beyond purely aesthetic concerns, Paul’s photography is informed by a personal journey. Having lived with clinical depression — a condition he now manages himself — he understands, first-hand, the transformative power of creating images: the silence, the ritual of the darkroom, the act of looking, framing and developing. Photography became for him a refuge and a way to channel inner turmoil into pictures. As a result, he supports MIND and is committed to advocating for mental‑health awareness. This lived experience deepens his work, imparting a quiet emotional weight: his images often resonate with introspection, solitude, and the subtle beauty found in ordinary spaces.

From Pixels to Film

Before Paul Cooklin became known for his atmospheric analogue photography, he was immersed in a very different world: digital art. In the late 1990s, when the medium was still finding its place in the art world, Cooklin was experimenting with layers of texture, geometry and abstraction on a glowing computer screen. His works were bold, conceptual and often emotionally charged — a visual playground where form and light collided in unexpected ways.

His prolific output didn’t go unnoticed. Cooklin’s digital artworks were licensed through Brand X Pictures (later acquired by Getty Images) and published across five image collections. At the time, the internet was opening up new opportunities for artists, and his work appeared in digital showcases that connected him to an international audience. For Cooklin, those early years represented complete creative freedom: “a blank page of pixels” where anything was possible.

But everything changed when his father handed him a Bronica ETRS medium-format film camera. Cooklin loaded his first roll with excitement — and returned with a batch of under- and over-exposed frames. Still, something about those imperfect negatives drew him in. The texture, the depth, the tangible qual...

2023
Saatchi Art Exhibition - Cinematic B&W Photography

2019
Exhibition, 508 Kings Road, Chelsea, London

2018
Exhibition, 508 Kings Road, Chelsea, London

2017
May - Kings Road Gallery Exhibition
508 Kings Road Gallery, Chelsea, London (Resident Artist)

2015
November - Vortigern Margate Gallery

2014
February - Sea Pictures Gallery Exhibition, Clare, Suffolk

2013
May - 'All the World's a Stage' Gallery Exhibition - Apex Gallery, Bury St. Edmunds
April - 'Through the Lens' - The Gallery Highwaymans Exhibition - Risby, Suffolk


2012
May / August - Group Exhibition, Second Floor Studio Arts, London
April/May - Group Exhibition - Berkeley Gallery, London. Curated by ArtPlatform


2011
November - A collection of images at Gallery 1839, London


2010
June - Fine Art Exhibition - Gallery Violet - Limited Edition Photographic Prints